Stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex of chitosan and polyethyleneglycol‐monosuccinate: Preparation and characterization

Abstract Stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) was prepared with polyethylene glycol‐monosuccinate (PEGMS), and chitosan (CS). A series of PEGMS were synthesized by a 1 : 1 mol ratio between PEG and succinic anhydride. Then, the novel PEC was prepared by a various mole reaction of the above synthesized PEGMS and CS. The physicochemical properties of the synthesized PEC was characterized by using elemental analysis, FTIR, 1 H, and 13 C nuclear magnetic resonance, dissolution behavior, and phase transition phenomenon. Furthermore, some properties of the PEC obtained were analyzed by UV‐Visible spectrometry, wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimeter, scanning electron microscope, and estimated solubility, and cell viability assay, respectively. It was found that the observed FTIR, 1 H, and 13 C‐NMR data was in good agreement with the chemical structure of the prepared PEGMS and PEC. The dissolution behaviors of nonstoichiometric PEC were found to depend on the pH of the solution as well as on the PEGMS/CS composition. The study of MTT assay suggested that the viability of HepG2 human hepatoblastoma cell on PEC were increased significantly in accordance with mole ratio of CS. As the results, the obtained several product is a useful intermediate, which permits further chemical modification for the amino group of CS and may have potential applications in biocompatible or cosmetic systems. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007